37. I Had a Secret Too
I Had a Secret Too
At my birth, my father had made me
Goddess of Oracles and Falling Stars.
With this gift also came the voices in my head.
Gods do not work with time in linearity.
We do not have death to march toward.
These voices were from Oracles scattered across time.
They told me stories about who they were.
That they had prophecies about posterity.
That they needed me to guide them.
When I was a child, I spoke to the voices
openly, until my mother pulled me aside
and told me to speak to them in my mind.
Not long after, once when Hyperion
set the sun and I watched it
gleam burnt marigold across
the turquoise ocean, I heard a call.
Asteria. I rose from my bed.
Asteria. I followed it
to the white sand outside my room.
Asteria. And as Nyx painted the sky and Selene,
the Moon Goddess, danced across the dark,
I saw it. The star that called
my name. It was bright red
like a ruby. When I reached out
and plucked it from the sky,
it spoke. ‘Plant me amongst
the violets and watch me grow.’
I did as I was told,
half thinking I was in a dream.
The next day amongst the violets
a cascade of ruby-red flowers
with a swirl of petals like
a fine silk dress grew.
I do not know what force
called to me
from the darkness to find the star.
To treat it like a seed to be planted,
to be nourished by my hands
so it would flower.
Something deep within
told me that I should not
speak of this to anyone.
That no one
should ever know
what I had done.